North Central District Health Department

Caring for our communities

Emergency Management

“The North Central District Health Department would certainly be a crucial player in any response to a widespread communicable disease emergency, whether from a bioterrorism attack or through natural causes “

Roll of Public health in Emergency Management
BT Information

Fact Sheets For Bioterrorism Agents:
Anthrax
Plague
Smallpox
Botulism
Ricin
Brucellosis
Q-fever

The North Central District Health Department has been dealing with bioterrorism preparedness and response related activities since shortly after the events of 9/11/2001, and have received funding to enhance our abilities to more rapidly identify and respond to the threat of bioterrorism within the four county district of Henry, Shelby, Spencer, and Trimble counties.

North Central District has developed a bioterrorism preparedness plan with specific focus on enhancing our capacity for investigating various outbreaks, including those caused by certain diseases that could potentially be related to possible bioterrorist activity.

If we ever suspect the possibility of bioterrorist activity we will immediately communicate with other agencies. Bio-terrorism preparedness and response requires cross-departmental
collaboration with multiple agencies at the local, regional, state, and even national levels.

Planned and ongoing local bioterrorism preparedness activities addresses detection, surveillance, laboratory analysis, emergency response, treatment, and communication with the public. There is no doubt that the critical element in responding to a bioterrorist attack is early detection and recognition. We are working with local, state, and federal officials to expand our surveillance systems to unusual or suspicious disease occurrences. Additionally, a rapid system to receive and pass information among physicians, other health care providers and health officials is being developed.

Additionally, specific information about the unusual disease that might be the result of a
bioterrorist attack have been distributed to local emergency rooms and to health care providers in our counties. Hopefully, we will never need to actually implement the response activities being developed. However, it is critical that we be well prepared. The North Central District Health Department is dedicated to continuing to fulfill our essential role in preparedness.